Jota-edition Lamborghini Aventador SV breaks Nürburgring record!

A special Jota edition of Lamborghini’s Aventador SV, called the SVJ, has set a new 6m 44.97s lap record for a production vehicle around the Nürburgring Nordschleife.

The Italian supercar brand has rarely bestowed the Jota name on its vehicles, ever since then-chief test driver Bob Wallace introduced the moniker in 1970 for a racing evolution of the Miura P400. In fact, the Diablo is the only other model to have received such an honour over the past five decades.

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Current test driver Marco Mapelli defeated the existing Nordschleife lap record – 6m 47.25s, set by a Porsche 911 GT2 RS – by over two seconds. The Jota improvements have shaved almost 15 seconds off the Aventador LP 750-4 SV’s benchmark lap in 2015, of 6m 59.73s.

So how did Lamborghini do it? A redesign of the car’s four-wheel-drive system and steering, along with a stiffer chassis, helped – but so too did a set of Pirelli tyres designed specifically for the Aventador SVJ.

Of course, there was also the customary swapping of parts for even more lightweight equivalents, along with a dash of extra power, upping the Lamborghini’s V12 output from 740bhp to 760bhp.

The Aventador SVJ completed its laps around the Nürburgring in camouflage paint, as it’s still awaiting its formal debut at Monterey Car Week in August.

Mapelli was also the test driver who set the Aventador LP 750-4 SV’s time back in 2015. We reckon he welcomes those extra Jota-specific handling improvements, given the challenges its predecessor appeared to present while driving around the ’Ring.